Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at AutogeekOnline.com

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at AutogeekOnline.com



Featured on Ship Shape TV

First, here's some pictures that show the excssive orange peel or surface texture in the gel-coat after it was sprayed as a part of restoring this classic Glastron.

Not there is zero gloss or shine in the gel-coat finish...

Frame-up shot
I'm take a far show of the corner so you can see what I'm photgraphing...

Close-up of the above shot...

Extreme close-up of the above shot --> Notice the rough texture? This will all have to be sanded FLAT.

These are the overhead florescent lights....

Notice how hard it is to SEE the florescent lights reflecting off the bow of the boat?

This is due to the rough, pebbled texture of the freshly sprayed gel-coat. This is NORMAL and this is why fresh gel-coat MUST be sanded and buffed to create a beautiful looking finish on the boat. There's basically ZERO reflection of the lights overhead.

Here's the hull before we started....

This too will have to be sanded till the surface is flat....

Here's the finished results....
I took these shots the next morning, both the top cap and the hull had been sanded, compounded, polished and waxed....

Now let's take a look at how this project rolled out....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Delivered to Marine 31 headquarters....
Here's how the Glastron project arrived. Bert and Mike from Ship Shape TV built a wooden jig on a boat trailer to hold both the Hull and the Top Cap at the same time in order to transport the hull and top cap to Marine 31 and only have to make one trip.

We moved the hull and the top cap off the trailer and onto fender stands to film the sanding and buffing segments for Ship Shape TV.

Here's Steve, one of the cameramen filming the opening with John Greviskis

For the TV show, John, Bert, Steve, Mike and me all block sanded, then machine sanded, then compounded, polished and waxed the top cap and while we did these steps the cameramen would film each step for the TV show.

The above was all done on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fast forward to Thursday, my team of guys showed up at 2:00pm and we started in on the hull and also re-sanding any of the areas that still had orange peel on the top cap.

Because we knocked out most of the grunt work on the top cap while filming the TV show and because it has a lot less real-estate than the hull, the below pictures are shown in the order they were taken so you'll see the pictures going back and forth between people working on the top cap and the hull with the top cap getting finished first followed by the hull.


Let's go.....

Here's Frank blocking out the hull. We started with #500 grit 3M Wet/Dry

Here's Rick an Scott block sanding....

Here's Chris and me blocking out the front of the hull....

Over on the top cap Robert and Mark are hand sanding with #1000 grit Nikken Finishing Papers....

Here's Andy hand sanding with #1000 grit....

Back to the hull you see the guys hard at work.... when you see the BEFORE pictures which show just how rough the surface was before we sanded you'll see why we had a lot of sanding to do....

Frank block sanding....

Eric block sanding.... We did an extreme makeover on Eric's boat here....

How to wetsand, cut and buff a gel-coat boat

Here's the Marine Extreme Team working on the top cap....

Here's Rick using the Rupes TA50 with some #1000 3M Trizact....

In the back you can see Mike the cameraman capturing all the action while everyone is working hard and fast....

Here's Steve the cameraman filming us sand the hull....

Here's Andy machine sanding the top cap using #1000 Trizact....

Here's Frank cleaning his wool pad with a spur before compounding....

Scott and Frank compounding the hull....

That's Jeff in the back compounding the sides and Andy up front compounding the deck....

Here's John watching Robert DiTerrlizzi make the Flex PE14 dance....

More to come.....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Continued.....


Andy compounding using the new Captain's One-Step Compound & Polish.

Jeff is a master with the rotary buffer....

Here's John and I machine sanding with #1000 Trizact....

This is very messy work....

More to come....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Continued.....


Robert, Andy and Jeff are starting the polishing work, they've switched over to using the Flex 3401 with blue 6.5" Hybrid Foam Cutting pads with the Captain's One-Step Compound & Polish.

Here's John with the top cap after the sanding, compounding and polishing steps... at this time there is no wax on the gel-coat.

Wax time for the top cap!
Here's Robert using the same tool used to polish the top cap only he's switched over to a soft red foam waxing pad, lowered the speed to the 3 setting and is machine applying Marine 31 Gel-coat Carnauba Wax + Sealant.

Still more to come.....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Continued.....


Back to the hull....
There's a whole lot of compounding needed on this hull to get teh sanding marks out....

More to come.....

__________________

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

And again, here's the finished results....
I took these shots the next morning, both the top cap and the hull had been sanded, compounded, polished and waxed....

As you can see.... the finish quality has come a long way from what we had to start with....



Here's the Team Shot...
A few guys left early as this project started at 2:00pm and we finished at 10:00pm....

From left to right....

Jeff, Robert, Antti, Tim, Rick, Chris, John, Eric, Eli, Mark, Andy, Craig and Frank...

Nice work guys!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

A few comments....


Thank You!
First I'd like to thank all the guys that traveled from far and near to be a part of this project. Wetsanding a brand new gel-coat from start to finish is a HUGE undertaking. The gel-coat finish we started with was as rough as concrete pavement. That's the nature of the beast, it's how gel-coat lays out when sprayed onto a hull and then air dried.

I'd also like to thank John Greviskis and his Team from Ship Shape TV, Bert, Mike and Steve. Not only do the run the cameras and do all the behind the scenes work to make a TV show come together but they also wetsand, cut and buff boats!



Mold Finish
Normally when a boat is built the gel-coat is sprayed into a mold and because the mold is sanded and buffed till it's smooth, when you pull the boat out of the mold the finish mimics the mold and thus the outside finish on a boat is smooth and even shiny.



50+ Year Restoration Project
This is John's personal boat, a Glastron built in 1960. John chose to have the boat sprayed with gel-coat because by spraying with gel-coat a much THICKER layer or film-build of polyester resin could be applied. The thickness was measured and averages around 25 mils.

Had the boat been painted, the average film build would have been in the 4-6 mil range.

The thicker, incredibly tough gel-coat resin will hold up better and longer to damage such as bumping into wooden docks or pulling onto shore. With a paint job, the paint would easily chip off, not so with the fresh gel-coat finish. And this is why John chose to respray new gel-coat instead of simply painting.

The challenge then is to sand and buff the sprayed gel-coat till it as a smooth, shiny surface like a boat pulled from a mold and that's where Marine 31 and my team of guys excelled.



You can do it too!
We hand sanded, machine sanded, compounded, polished and machine waxed and I think the results speak for themselves.

You can duplicate this sanding and buffing process yourself for,

• Fiberglass repairs
• Heavy oxidation removal
• Fresh gel-coat

And you can get all the tools and supplies you need plus the personal help from myself and our staff at Marine 31. Call our friendly staff or shop online and we'll ship everything right to your door. It can't get any easier than this....




On Marine31.com


Products used...

Marine 31 Captain’s One-Step Compound & Polish

Marine 31 Gel Coat Wash & Wax with Carnauba




Tools for buffing used...

Compounding: FLEX PE14-2-150 Rotary Polisher

Polishing: Flex XC 3401 VRG Dual Action Orbital Polisher

Waxing: Flex XC 3401 VRG Dual Action Orbital Polisher





Machine Sanding Tools

Porter Cable 7424XP HD Plus




Buffing Pads

7.5 inch Hook & Loop DuroWool 100% Twisted Wool Cutting Pad

http://www.autogeek.net/lc-wool-sheepskin-polishing-pad-7inch.html

6.5 Inch Hybrid Power Finish Blue Pad

CCS Red 6.5 inch Ultrasoft Wax/Sealant Foam

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

The show's not over!
Here's the top cap and the hull being placed back onto the trailer to head back to the Ship Shape shop where it will be put back together and then the restoration process will continue.

When the boat is ready to float she'll be back for an encore presentation!

 

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

This project was definitely a messy and long one. If you did not know how to wetsand gelcoat before today and you came to this makeover, you do now. Extremely tedious and intricate work as to not miss any spots. The before and after results were night and day. The buffers were working so hard the circuits were blowing.LOL. All in all it was a great turnaround and a good group of guys to work with, some new and some regular. Thanks to Mike once again for bringing in a very rare boat.

 

[Tato]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Congratulations to everyone performing this awesome turnaround, it's euphemism to call before and after 'night and day'... This boat will outshine the concurrence when sailing and I'm looking forward to see the finished pics.

Thank you for this sanding and cutting classroom, hope someday I'll be able to participate on one (or some) of those projects.

Kind Regards.

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Outstanding work Gentlemen! That boat looks drop dead gorgeous now!

 

[FrankS]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

This project was definitely a messy and long one. If you did not know how to wetsand gelcoat before today and you came to this makeover, you do now. Extremely tedious and intricate work as to not miss any spots. The before and after results were night and day. The buffers were working so hard the circuits were blowing.LOL. All in all it was a great turnaround and a good group of guys to work with, some new and some regular. Thanks to Mike once again for bringing in a very rare boat.

:iagree: Couldn't have said it better.

The final results were amazing! Thanks again to Mike & John for the opportunity to work on this boat.

 

[RTexasF]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Will this be powered by a vintage outboard or one more modern?

 

[57BORNTORUN]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

John told me this boat will never see water again.It`s a show boat.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

This project was definitely a messy and long one. If you did not know how to wetsand gelcoat before today and you came to this makeover, you do now.

Extremely tedious and intricate work as to not miss any spots.

Spot on... thanks for all your hard work Chris and making the 2+ hour drive both here and back home again just to be a part of the team.

The before and after results were night and day. The buffers were working so hard the circuits were blowing. LOL.

The Electrician is here today and we're revamping all the electricals for the garage. In the future we'll be able to run more rotary buffers than ever before without any issues.

All in all it was a great turnaround and a good group of guys to work with, some new and some regular.

Although it was a lot of work it was also a lot of fun.... and another first in this industry.


:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Will this be powered by a vintage outboard or one more modern?

John has a period correct outboad motor for this boat, I'll get the details and share them....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

John told me this boat will never see water again.

It`s a show boat.

Ha! He told me I can borrow it anytime I want!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Congratulations to everyone performing this awesome turnaround, it's euphemism to call before and after 'night and day'... This boat will outshine the concurrence when sailing and I'm looking forward to see the finished pics.

Thanks for the compliments Raphael...

Thank you for this sanding and cutting classroom, hope someday I'll be able to participate on one (or some) of those projects.

Kind Regards.

I hope some day you'll be able to attend one of our car detailing classes or our boat detailing classes...


:dblthumb2:

 

[David Hayward]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Wow awesome work. I may have to try those marine 31 products next spring when my boat season ramps up.

 

[dlc95]

Re: Pictures: 1960 Glastron - Wetsand, Cut & Buff at Marine31Online.com

Luscious. That's all I can say about the end result.

I love that pic of Mike holding the buffer towards himself! That is a true master right there.